Do you borrow money off companies such as Provident, Greenwoods or Shopacheck?

Have you been refused credit or loans for Christmas?

The amount of cash loans, doorstep loans and further personal credit taken out over the run up to Christmas is astonishing.

Christmas is most certainly one of, if not the most expensive times of year. We all rush out trying to buy items that we think will please our loved ones when really, the only winners seem to be the retail shops. Most of us save and budget for Christmas when others just spend like next year is not going to arrive!

This is where a lot of people, mainly people on low incomes or state benefits, get parted with hard earned money.

There are unscrupulous financial companies waiting to charge you very high rates of interest for short term loans that are really not affordable. When we advise people that call us for doorstep loans or cash loans that only millionaires can afford these types of loans, they laugh!

It is not funny when the bills for these, loans arrive and the interest compounds beyond a point of ability to repay that interest and makes it near impossible for the individual to reduce the total debt.

These cash loan companies then have you in their grasp, it is very difficult to break this grasp and it makes the vulnerable consumer an easy target for further credit or final collection procedures to recover money owed.

You must accept that if you are used to borrowing from a door to door lender, you should consider starting a debt management plan that will consolidate your loans, overdrafts and credit cards or store cards into one, new, lower and affordable monthly repayment.

This way, by the time next Christmas arrives, you will have enough money set aside to buy gifts without needing to borrow money at very high rates.

It is usually the most desperate of people that get stuck in this cycle of personal debt and because of their desperation, they fail to see the true picture when being offered loan products that only seem to be of benefit to the lender, not the individual borrowing the money.

If you are on DLA or other types of benefits, loans are very difficult to obtain and people often get offended when refused for cash loans or doorstep loans. This refusal is actually the best thing that the individual could hear, it is just the acceptance of the refusal that the individual needs advice about and this is where a debt management plan could possibly help if circumstances allow.

To start a financial management plan for most seems a negative thing to do, if you need one then it is the most positive thing you could possibly do. A structured repayment plan would get your finances in order and make a stable foundation for your financial future. Just because someone is not offering you cash does not mean that you are not being offered help, think and think again!